210 Agassiz 1 Contributions to the 



that of Ichthyosauri and certain Cetacea. Yet, through all these 

 intricate relations, there runs an evident tendency towards the 

 production of higher and higher types, until at last, Man crowns 

 ' the whole series. Seen as it were at a distance, so that the mind 

 can take a general survey of the whole, and perceive the connec- 

 tion of the successive steps, without being bewildered by the 

 details, such a series appears like the development of a great con- 

 ception, expressed in such harmonious proportions, that every 

 link appears necessary to the full comprehension of its meaning, 

 and yet, so independent and perfect in itself, that it might be 

 mistaken for a complete whole, and again, so intimately connect- 

 ed with the preceding and following members of the series, that 

 one might be viewed as flowing out of the other. What is uni- 

 versally acknowledged as characteristic of the highest conceptions 

 as genius, is here displayed in a fulness, a richness, a magnificence, 

 an amplitude, a perfection of details, a complication of relations, 

 which baffle our skill and our most persevering efforts to appre- 

 ciate all its beauties. Who can look upon such series, coincid- 

 ing to such an extent, and not read in them the successive mani- 

 festations of a thought, expressed at different times, in ever new 

 forms, and yet tending to the same end, onwards to the coming 

 of Man, whose advent is already prophesied in the first appearance. 

 of the earliest Fishes ! 



The relative standing of plants presents a somewhat different 

 character from that of animals. Their great types are not built 

 upon so strictly different plans of structure ; they exhibit, there- 

 fore, a more uniform gradation from their lowest to their highest 

 types, which are not personified in one highest plant, as the 

 highest animals are in Man. 



Again, Zoology is more advanced respecting the limitation of 

 the most comprehensive general divisions,, than Botany,, while 

 Botany is in advance respecting the limitation and characteristics 

 of families and genera. There is, on that account, more diversity 

 of opinion among botanists respecting the number, and the rela- 

 tive rank of the primary divisions of the vegetable kingdom, than 

 among zoologists respecting the great branches of the animal 

 kingdom. While most writers agree in admitting among plants, 

 such primary groups as Acotyledones, Monocotyledones, and 

 Dicotyledones, under these or other names, others would separate 

 the Gymnosperms from the Dicotyledones. 



It appears to me, that this point in the classification of the 



